Flowers & Herbs,Gardening,Plants

How to Grow Organic Fruits and Vegetables (Real Examples)03 Jan

John Marchese

Located on the edge of the Pine Barrens, Emery’s Berry Farm is the largest organic blueberry farm in New Jersey. The farm attracts many summer campers who use old coffee cans and head out to the U-pick fields. John Marchese runs the most successful U-pick blueberry activity in the state. A local woman simply referred as ‘Elizabeth’ domesticated the blueberry he grows today.

In 1910, Elizabeth Coleman White was the first person to bring wild blueberries and develop them into many commercial varieties. Since the original blueberry type was wild, today it makes an excellent crop for organic production: pest- resistant, vigorous, and tasty. In NY, the bush blueberry market gathers $40 million a year with 7,500 acres in production. The blueberry farm is very profitable.

The Marcheses’ berries are wholesaled in cities like Boston, Philadelphia or Washington though ‘Four Seasons’ or ‘Albert’s Organics’. Marchese invested in high quality packing equipment that allows him to process 80 flats an hour. Growing organic blueberries seems like a profitable business and Marchese knows how to make the most of it.… Read More

Flowers & Herbs,Gardening,Plants

How to Grow Perfect Truffles (Real Examples)03 Jan

Franklin Garland

Would you give up your day job to grow mushrooms? Well, although it sounds like a rushed choice, some people actually do it. Franklin Garland was working as an electronics engineer before he decided to grow French black truffles. He got the idea from a Wall Street Journal article about growing truffles.

He was firmly convinced that this is profitable business so he bought 750 hazel nut trees inoculated with truffle spores. Anxious, he planted the trees on his 57-acre property. It took almost ten years fir the trees to mature and by 1992, he was the first person to cultivate, harvest and sell French black truffles in the US.

He worked with numerous reputable chefs such as Emeril Lagasse. One pound of truffles costs $4,000 and he only produces few pounds a year. However, Franklin supplements his income by selling hazelnuts, by offering farm tours and by writing how-to-books about growing truffles. Garland plans to expand his farm by 100,000 trees; he seems to have discovered the key to success by growing French Black truffles.

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